Apparatus for supplying flowable material

ABSTRACT

Flowable material is supplied to a feed hopper. Feeder screw means disposed in said feed hopper are operated to force said material out of said hopper and to exert a thrust which varies with the amount of flowable material in said hopper. The supply of additional flowable material to said hopper is controlled in response to said thrust.

United States Patent Strohmeier [451 Sept. 12, 1972 [54] APPARATUS FORSUPPLYING [56] References Cited FLOWABLE MATERIAL UNITED STATES PATENTS[72] Inventor: Harald Strohmeier, Kapfenburg,

A i 2,778,387 1/1957 Diehl 177/ I20 X Assignee: Gel. Bauer & co. AGI p3,338,472 8/1967 Gardner ..222/55 fenberg Ausma Primary Examiner-StanleyH. Tollberg [22] Filed: Feb. 3, 1971 Attorney-Holman & Stern [2]] Appl.No.: 112,376 ABSTRACT 4 Flowable material is supplied to a feed hopper.Feeder [3o] Fmlgn Appumfion.hiomy Data screw means disposed in said feedhopper are Feb. 10, Austria ..l operated to forge material out of saidhopper and to exert a thrust which varies with the amount of U.S.flowable material in said hopper The supply of addi- [5 i] hit. CI. ..B67d 5/08 tiona] flowable material to Said hopper is Conn-cued i [58]Field of Search ..'.222/55, 56, 52, H2, 113; response to said thrust 8Claims, 2 Drawing Figures PATENTEUSEPIZ m2 3.690.513

f/alnm 7 dye-Al Inventor- APPARATUS FOR SUPPLYING FLOWABLE MATERIAL Itis an object of the invention to provide a highly reliable and simpleprocess of fully automatically supplying coating compositions forwelding electrodes to a screw extruder, which serves to form a coatingon the welding wire continuously and at a high speed. This object isaccomplished according to the invention in that the coating compositionis supplied, e.g., by means of a belt conveyor, to one or more feederscrews, which are disposed in a feed hopper, and that the rate at whichthe coating composition is supplied to said feeder screws is controlledin response to the thrust exerted by one or more of the feeder screws.

In one of the various apparatus with which the process according to theinvention can be carried out, a conveyor is driven by an electric motor(gearmotor) and consists, e.g.,. of a belt conveyor or a vibratingtrough and supplies the coating composition to astationary feed hopper,in which two rotating and meshing feeder screws are disposed, which aremounted on a substantially horizontal beam and positively connected bygears, the feed hopper has at its lower end an opening through which thecoating composition is forced by the feeder screws, the beam is pivotedat one end, e.g., on a stationary pin, an electric switch is disposedadjacent to the beam and preferably-near the other end thereof and isarranged to be closed by the beam as the latter descends, and'the switchis disposed in the electric power supply line connected to the electricmotor (gearmotor).

The present process will now be fully explained with reference to thedrawing, in which an embodiment of the apparatus according to theinvention is shown diagrammatically and by way of example.

FIG. 1 is a partly sectional elevation showing apparatus for controllingthe supply of a coating composition for welding electrodes and FIG. 2 isa partly sectional side elevation showing the same apparatus.

The coating composition to be supplied is supplied by a belt conveyor 10to a stationary feed hopper 20, in which two meshing feeder screws 21and 22 are disposed, which rotate in mutually opposite directions andare positively connected by two gears 23 and 24. The coating compositionsupplied to the feeder screws 21 and 22 is forced by the latter throughan opening 27 in the feed hopper to a screw extruder (not shown), whichis disposed below the feed hopper. One feeder screw 21 is directlycoupled to a stub shaft 25 of an electric gearmotor 26 secured to a beam30. The other feeder screw 22 is rotatably mounted in a bearing 31,which is carried by the beam 30, which always has a substantiallyhorizontal orientation and is pivoted at one end on a pin 32. When thefeed hopper 20 and the screw channels of the feeder screws 21 and 22contain only little coating composition, the thrust exerted by thefeeder screws 21 and 22 is reduced to such an extent that the weight ofthe beam 30, the weight of the electric gearmotor 26 and a biasing forceadditionally provided result in a downward pivotal movement of the beam30 so that the latter closes a switch 41, which is disposed near thatend of the beam which is opposite to the pin 32. As a result, electriccurrent flows through a line 40, which includes the switch 41, to asecond electric gear-motor 1 1, which drive? the belt conve or 10.

e above-mentioned biasing orce addition y provided is exerted by aresilient rubber buffer 33, which is adjacent to that end of the beam 30which is remote from the pin 32 bears on the underside of a stationaryabutment 34 and on the top side of the beam 30. The rubber buffer 33 maybe replaced by a spring or a pneumatic dashpot. When the feed hopper 20contains much coating composition, the axial thrust of the feeder screws21 and 22 is increased and raises the 1 beam 30 against the action ofthe weight of the beam, theweight of the electric gearmotor 26 and theadditional biasing force so that the switch 41 is opened. This is shownin dash-dot lines. As a result, the second electric gearmotor 11 and thebelt conveyor 10 are stopped and the supply of coating composition intothe feed hopper 20 is discontinued. The cycle described hereinbefore isthen repeated. The apparatus which has been described above may thus beused to carry out the process according to the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for supplying flowable material, which apparatus comprisesa stationary feed hopper having an opening at its lower end,

a substantially horizontal beam, which is pivoted at one end on ahorizontal axis which is transverse to the longitudinal axis of saidbeam,

feeder screw means carried by said beam and rotatable to force flowablematerial out of said feed hopper through said opening and to exert athrust, which varies with the amount of flowable material in said feedhopper and opposes a downward pivotal movement of said beam,

a conveyor operable to supply flowable material to said feed hopper,

an electric motor energizable to operate said conveyor, and

an electric power supply line for energizing said electric motor, saidline including a switch disposed adjacent to said beam and adapted to beclosed in response to a downward pivotal movement of said beam.

2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, in which said conveyor is a beltconveyor.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, in which said conveyor is avibrating trough.

4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, in which said feeder screw meanscomprise a plurality of meshing feeder screws, which are positivelyconnected by gear means.

5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, in which said electric motor is agearmotor.

6. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, in which said beam is pivoted on astationary pin.

7. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, in which said switch is disposednear that end of said beam which is remote from said one end.

8. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, which comprises a stationaryabutment and a resilient rubber buffer bearing on the underside of saidabutment and the top side of said beam adjacent to that end thereofwhich is opposite to said one end.

1. Apparatus for supplying flowable material, which apparatus comprisesa stationary feed hopper having an opening at its lower end, asubstantially horizontal beam, which is pivoted at one end on ahorizontal axis which is transverse to the longitudinal axis of saidbeam, feeder screw means carried by said beam and rotatable to forceflowable material out of said feed hopper through said opening and toexert a thrust, which varies with the amount of flowable material insaid feed hopper and opposes a downward pivotal movement of said beam, aconveyor operable to supply flowable material to said feed hopper, anelectric motor energizable to operate said conveyor, and an electricpower supply line for energizing said electric motor, said lineincluding a switch disposed adjacent to said beam and adapted to beclosed in response to a downward pivotal movement of said beam. 2.Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, in which said conveyor is a beltconveyor.
 3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, in which said conveyoris a vibrating trough.
 4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, in whichsaid feeder screw means comprise a plurality of meshing feeder screws,which are positively connected by gear means.
 5. Apparatus as set forthin claim 1, in which said electric motor is a gearmotor.
 6. Apparatus asset forth in claim 1, in which said beam is pivoted on a stationary pin.7. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, in which said switch is disposednear that end of said beam which is remote from said one end. 8.Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, which comprises a stationary abutmentand a resilient rubber buffer bearing on the underside of said abutmentand the top side of said beam adjacent to that end thereof which isopposite to said one end.